President Trump’s decision to waive sanctions on Russia is not a concession to Moscow; it is a recognition that the federal government’s first duty is to the American people. The suspended measures threatened 100% tariffs on Russian oil and gas purchasers and new restrictions on financial institutions, moves that would have deepened the inflation and energy costs already crushing household budgets. By citing the national interest, the administration has placed American economic stability above the demands of foreign capitals.
Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded stricter sanctions to cripple Russia’s war machine, and Ukrainian officials have publicly clashed with the White House over Russian diesel imports. Yet no foreign leader holds a veto over American policy. When Russian officials welcome the waiver because it prevents unnecessary damage to global markets, that is a side effect, not the objective. The objective is ensuring that American families do not pay the price for instability they did not create.
The same principle of putting citizens first appeared in Bend, Oregon, where a 16-year-old former student entered Silver Rail Elementary with a shotgun and 44 additional rounds, killing three children and a teacher before a law-abiding man intervened. Kaylub Giamanco, a 36-year-old carpenter carrying a legally concealed pistol, saw the attacker breach the building, entered the school, and fired multiple times to neutralize the threat. Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz credited Giamanco and a teacher who wrestled with the gunman with preventing further bloodshed.
That outcome is the strongest possible argument for an armed citizenry. The only thing standing between a murderer and innocent children was a good man with a gun, not a government restriction or a police response that arrived too late. President Trump called Giamanco a “great hero,” and he was right. Self-defense is an individual liberty, and limited government means trusting law-abiding citizens to protect their communities rather than disarming them in the face of evil.
Abroad, European elites are discovering that their publics no longer share their appetite for endless foreign entanglements. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has denounced potential U.S. restrictions on satellite and intelligence support for Ukraine as a “major mistake,” yet support for military aid in Italy has fallen to just 18 percent, and protests and trucker blockades in Rome show voters are revolting against policies that prioritize distant conflicts over domestic needs. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself called Trump’s Russian diesel deal a “very risky choice,” but the Italian backlash confirms that sovereignty is not a one-way street.
The thread connecting these events is clear: accountable government answers to its own citizens, not to foreign leaders, international institutions, or ideological crusades. Whether the issue is energy prices, school safety, or military aid, the test is whether Washington protects American liberty, sovereignty, and law and order. President Trump is applying that test, and the country is better for it.
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